MURDER IS NO PICNIC

Love in the time of indecision.

Samantha Barnes, who writes the “Cape Cod Foodie” column for the local newspaper, hopes to renovate the house she inherited from her aunt Ida with the proceeds of a surprisingly valuable antique clock she found in the attic. Searching for the perfect blueberry buckle for her Fourth of July picnic, she discovers it while she and her friends are eating at Clara’s Place, a legendary Provincetown restaurant founded by Clara Foster but now owned by her protégé, Ed Captiva, a cousin of Sam’s love, harbormaster Jason Captiva. When Clara agrees to do a video showing Sam how to make the delectable buckle, it leads Sam into her third murder investigation. Clara welcomes Sam into her home, where they’re going to make the video; the house is modest from the outside but has a prime water view and a beautifully renovated interior. Sam is bowled over by the kitchen, of course, but it's Clara’s collection of rare cookbooks that takes her breath away. As she’s showing Sam around, Clara opens up with some personal revelations about her late wife, Kit, an accomplished painter whose work in the style of Edward Hopper is hard to tell from an original. That night, a house fire kills Clara and destroys her collection of cookbooks. When Sam meets with Detective Vivian Peters at Clara’s house, she immediately becomes suspicious because Clara would never have left the burner on after cooking some bacon in the middle of the night, which is what the police think started the fire. In the absence of Jason, who’s away on a 12-week training course in California, Sam relies on her friends to help her investigate. When Jason flies in to support her, he drops a bombshell: He’s been offered a job in California.

A clever, empathetic, and totally believable heroine sets this fine cozy above the competition.